


In the Middle of the Night

by Musical_life



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Horror, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2019-12-27 01:53:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18294467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Musical_life/pseuds/Musical_life
Summary: Those Monsters, we called them Shadows - Takaba YukariWhen a human is taken over by a Shadow, they're called Phantoms. They become instinct driven, nothing human remains... Or does it?And if you had a chance to find out, would you want to know, or remain blind like most of humanity?Akira will, and wish he hadn't.





	1. Got A Feeling

**Author's Note:**

> Credit goes to Furious_Pines for the very beginning of this chapter, I've taken it over with his permission as he's re-doing his outline.
> 
> The song for this chapter is Sevendust - Got A Feeling.

Akira laid on the ground, blood pooling around his head. A small broken radio occasionally letting out a bit of comprehensible sound as he slowly bled to death.

“There’s been --- cases --- Phantom Syndrome --- city in chaos --- Uproar --- Are your children safe?”

Akira choked out a laugh, spitting up blood and bile on the cold, hard concrete.

The radio cuts out as a crow descends upon the box, it’s blind white eyes reflecting the cold pale lights of the streetlamps barely illuminating the sidewalk. A deep, echoing voice strikes fear into the last few beats of the boy’s heart, scoffing at the sight.

“Ahhh… It appears the Fool has become the Tower. How unexpected that the Sin of Pride would be so reckless, and such a shame to lose a Wild Card this early on. But this seems it will turn out to be very… Very… Interesting,” The voice croons, continuing with a thunderous laugh, “I’ll give you a second chance, but only to see how this corruption s҉̷͇̬̙p̭͙̝̦ṟ̶̙͉͖̫̕̕e̙̮͙͉̹͔̹a̵̴̰̹͍̼̣͜d̶̻̞͈͓̤͟͝ͅs͇͔̜̺͉̞̟̙.҉̝̠͔̩̲̼͎̱”͕̦̼͕͎̯̖̘ͅ

The boy feels his body begin in seize in fear and pain, quiet breathy sobs racking his body, breathing becoming harder and harder for him as the crying continued. As the crow flies off, a small blue butterfly flits on by, unnoticed by tear-blurred eyes.

A small gloved hand gently wove delicate fingers through his hair, calming him as his breaths slowed and his tears turned to quiet hiccups. The blue figure whispered sorrowful apologies and gentle lullabies, easing him into the void as he took his final breath...

“Sleep, martyr; for you have so, so much ahead of you.”

And finally closed his eyes.

Akira is jolted awake as the train screeches to a stop, almost making him fall over if it weren’t for how tightly packed the train car was. As the passengers flooded out, he noticed a few strange looks directed his way, but he wasn’t awake enough to care. Walking into the station, he quickly shuffled up the stairs, avoiding eye contact with the people around him. 

Akira stared at the multitude of alleyways before him, a confusing maze that he couldn’t make sense of. He pulled out his phone, inputting Sakura Sojiro’s address into his navigation app, letting it lead him to the house. 

Most people would be at work about now… God, I hope he’s home.

Ringing the doorbell, Akira tapped his foot while waiting. Ringing the bell at least one more time, he feels his anxiety heightening at the lack of response. A loud groan wrenches itself from his throat before he hears a noise behind him, he wheels around to see a delivery man holding a clipboard and muttering to himself.

A few minutes later, Akira stands in front of what appears to be a cafe that says it serves coffee and curry, of all things, on the awning. He takes a breath to settle his nerves before pushing the door open, knowing that delaying won’t help, as much as he’d like to do so.

Akira steps inside, he feels un-welcomed, the couple in the booth just paying attention to their coffee and whom he assumes is the owner is muttering to himself while working on a crossword puzzle, completely ignoring Akira. He clears his throat, causing the crossword-man to look up at Akira and sigh, setting it on the bar.

“I forgot today was the day you were arriving, my memory isn’t what it used to be, especially when it comes to everything that doesn’t involve women.”

“Sir?” Akira looks confused at the non-sequitur.

"I was wondering what kind of delinquent would show up, but it's you? I'm Sakura Sojiro. One of my regulars knows your parents and... Ah, whatever.  
Follow me. This is your room. I'll give you bedsheets at least, you can clean up everything else. I heard about what happened, inflicting bodily injury, huh? I guess you can't judge a book by its cover."

“But… That’s not…” Akira looks flustered.

"I don't want to hear it. I won't ask you about it either, just don't get me involved.” Sojiro cuts him off, before continuing.“After receiving a criminal record, you were expelled from your local high school. The court ordered you to transfer out here, which your parents agreed to. In other words, they got rid of you for being a nuisance! Don't talk about any of this downstairs though, I am running a business here. Behave yourself for the next year; If nothing happens, you'll be off probation."

Akira’s mouth shapes into an o. “I see..”

“I promised to take you in for the year and your parents paid me as well. We're going to Syujin tomorrow."

Akira blinks.

"Syujin Gakuen, we'll introduce you to your teachers. They don't get many newcomers," Sojiro remarks.

"Okay," Akira replies, meekly.

"I head home after closing the cafe. You'll be alone at night, but don't do anything stupid; I'll throw you out at the first sign of trouble." He walks downstairs glancing at Akira as he does so. Akira is quick to follow and he finds himself at a supermarket. “Pick something cheap, it’ll be your dinner tonight.” After Akira does so, Sojiro pays and they walk back to Leblanc in silence. Sojiro opens the door and starts to heat the water needed for the cup ramen Akira picked up.

Soon, the water’s ready and Sojiro pours it into the styrofoam cup before using a fork to close the lid. “Take it upstairs, I’m going to close up for tonight.”

Akira does so, staring at the beams while he eats his dinner. _You can survive this, Akira; you have to…_ he thinks to himself before finishing and taking the cup downstairs to dispose of it in the bin and placing the fork into the sink. After going back upstairs, he changes into his pajamas and lies on the bed, waiting for sleep to overtake him.

S̶̞͔̟̤̹̆o̸̧̗̘͎̟̮͚͒̈́̓̒͆,̶̛̦͉̔̆̅͆̑͊ ̴͙̿̽̀͛͆t̶̨̛͈͈̣͎̲̓̓͗̉͝ḥ̵̼̖̙͈͈̭̍̿͝e̷̙̻̐̆́̔ͅ ̷̝̮͕͓͉͔̮̐̏͑i̶͔͖̤̖͕͂͝n̴̗̍̈́̋f̷̫͎̬͙̲̈́̆͌̏͗̕ĕ̵̯͙̥͜c̵̢̢͎̪͖͍̈́̾̋̀͘ṱ̸̡̨́̏͊i̷̫̼̔̕͜͠ͅo̸̭̬̞̞̟̞͂̎̿ń̵̳͈̹̖̯̣͠ ̸̻͗̈́̾͘͝h̸̖͙̯͛a̶̡͙̤̭͇̍̿̆͂̇̓͜s̴̨̍̔͝ṇ̵̛̹͔͖̻̤̮̏̂̈́̓̃'̷̡͚̗͇͓͗̋̈́̊͊̚͝ͅt̸̢͔͚̲͇̮̪̚ ̴̧̞͇̦̽ș̷̡̠͆p̴̨̛̞̜̗͎͊̉̊͝r̸̬̻͔̥̳͑̎͊e̴̡͕͖͈͚̽͌̎̈́͑͘͠a̵̘͙̞̖̔͂͊d̴̠͂͂̅͂͑̍͘ ̸͚̹̱̓̂͐̔̋̕͝ÿ̵̬̮̝̉̎̄̄ë̷̞̞͖̲̍̒̌̒t̷̨̩͕̳̲̗͑ͅ.̵͇̓.̸͇̊̓̈.̷̪͓͉̅̾͗̈́̈ ̵̧̰̠̂̄̿̕T̴̫͓͈̂̆̈́h̴͕̰͚͈̠̦̊̐͆e̶̡͔̥̎̒̈́̿r̸̳̻̊̊͝e̸͊͋̓̅̿͜͝'̴̝̼̬̗̫̘̾̚s̵͚͎̟̳̗̗̆ ̸̧͖͓͎̗̬̈́̑s̸̨͓̩͕̰̄t̶̺͇̮̞̔̋͗̀̚͠ĩ̶̖̱̌̏͝l̶͚̅̄̿̿̐͑̚l̸̑̔̇͂͜ ̵͚̼̟̈́t̷͙̼̮̜̓̏̕į̶̹̤̥̏̈́̌̆m̸̛̝̳̥̓͐̿͒̈́ĕ̵͈̱̳͖̱̍̊̉͊̍̕.̸̥̙̻̙͒̌̌͒ͅ

The next morning Akira is awoken by the smell of something savory drifting up to his nose, he feels like he had a nightmare, but he can’t remember what happened in it. After changing into his uniform, he goes downstairs to see Sojiro putting something on a plate. “Just in time, eat, we’ll be going to Syujin after you’re done,” the older man says, placing the plate and a cup of coffee in front of Akira.

Akira hasn’t had coffee before, but the smell is tempting and he doesn’t want to be rude so he has both and is surprised at how good the combination is. After he finishes eating, the two of them head to Syujin to meet his homeroom teacher and get his student ID. Subsequently, the frigid meeting leaves both men quiet. They head back to Leblanc silently, the only noise being the music on the radio and traffic.

As the two of them enter the cafe, Sojiro grumbles about not being able to open, much to Akira’s dismay; he makes a downcast face behind Sojiro’s back. “I’m going to leave after I fix you something to eat,” immediately after saying that, he pulls a plate down and begins to put curry and rice on it before placing it along with a spoon in front of Akira who looks at him curiously.

“Sorry, I don’t have time to fix you a cup of coffee, I need to get going.” Akira nods before starting to eat his late lunch/early dinner. “Rinse your plate after your done,” Sojiro leaves.

Now left to his own devices in the quiet cafe, Akira finishes his meal before doing as bid and setting his dishes in the rack on the side. He heads upstairs and grabs his pajamas before taking care of things before bed. After going back up to his room, Akira records what happened that day before closing the journal and connecting his phone to the charger.

Akira plays some mobage games before setting his phone down, tomorrow looks like it’s going to be a long day if the stares he got from the two faculty members were any indication.


	2. Numb

**4/11/16**

Akira steps out of the station at Aoyama-Itchome to the sound and feel of the rain, he grimaces before making a run for the nearest awning. He meets up with a gorgeous blonde and can’t help but stare, something she quickly notices, side-eyeing him. A car pulls up, offering the girl known as Takamaki a ride, after she gets in he’s also offered one and accepts much to the teacher’s chagrin; he has a bad feeling and doesn’t want her to run into trouble.

Just before he enters the classroom, finding Takamaki’s in the same homeroom, she pulls Akira aside.

“Thank you for coming along with me,” she states quietly.

“You’re welcome Takamaki-san,” Akira replies before both of them enter and take their seats. Surprisingly, Akira’s is above Anne’s. At lunch, the two of them talk about themselves, slowly learning about the other.

“You should meet Shiho, I'd think you'd like her.”

“Oh?” Akira looks over at Takamaki, an eyebrow arched upward.

“Yeah, she’s on the Volleyball team so you’ll see her this afternoon,” Anne explains after seeing his quizzical look.

Just then the bell rings, Anne and Akira toss the remainders of their lunch into the trash before heading back to their homeroom.

Later during PE, Akira takes a girl’s place at the net as Kamoshida lobbies a serve toward his face. He gets knocked to the floor and the girl leans over him, pulling him back up as Anne and another blond come near. “Thanks Shiho, we can take it from here,” Anne looks at her fellow blond before putting one of Akira’s arms around her. “Ryuji, take his other; we need to get him to the nurse’s office,” Anne orders before Ryuji does so and they drag Akira there.

Akira returns to Leblanc with a bruise to find a black cat with a yellow collar and white socks loitering around the front door. He enters the cafe only to find the cat has followed him in. “Mew?”

Sojiro just looks at Akira, noticing his bruise before getting some ice ready and handing it wrapped in a cloth. “Put that on your cheek,” he then notices the cat. “Why is that animal here?”

The cat looks up at Sojiro with a soulful look. “Mew…” The older man just sighs and pours some milk into a saucer before setting it down in front of the cat. “To think I’d be serving a cat…” he shakes his head. “He acts like a Prince, don’t you think?”  
Akira thinks about it and nods.”So I guess you’ll be calling him Prince when he comes around?”

Sojiro takes away the empty saucer before shooing the cat out, “yes.” He starts to move toward the pot of curry, putting it along with some rice on a plate he’s grabbed from the cabinet then he grabs a spoon from the drawer before placing everything in front of Akira. Sojiro takes off his apron and puts on his coat and hat before locking up and leaving, ignoring the eating boy.

Akira sighs and does what he needs to after finishing, he settles himself in a booth and pulls his books out of his bag, beginning to work on homework for a few hours before bed.

T̵͇̦̪̩̓̉̒͒̌ī̸͕̜͂̿̿͑̉m̵̢̳̭̞̪͗ë̷̠̤̟́̆ͅ ̷̬̬͆̾͆́͝f̷͈̥̻̲̾͜o̶̬͖̞͋̌r̶̞͔̹̝͈̫̮̿̉̏̍͐͘ ̴͇͓̮͎̖̳̝̾͊͊t̸̗̅ẖ̴̜͇͖̘̣̓̒̏̕i̶̘͂̓͋͂̎̚n̴͚͍̗͔̉̌̄ͅg̴̞̽́̇̀̂s̷͔͌̐ ̶̖̳̅t̸̢̼̭̼́̏̐̋ǫ̴̢̨̛̮̲́͛̔͗͘ ̸̥͈̱̙͎̮̈͊̓̍b̵̪̉̉͌̊͌e̵̱͝g̶̢̮̥͈͆́̽̿͛͛͠i̴̡̖̟̟̖̠̺̓͠n̶̡͇̞̮͓͕̐̏̑̽͑̐.̷̻̪͍̅̽͜.̶̭̠̮̠̤͙͛̚̕͜͝͝.̸̼̙̳̱̗̖͖̔̈͗͆͌

**4/12/16**

Akira wakes up the next morning and notices a new app on his phone, before he can delete it, Sojiro calls him from downstairs. He grabs his uniform along with his bag and heads down, intent on asking if there’s a bathhouse nearby.

Sojiro already has coffee and curry ready, so after he gives directions, tells Akira to finish before heading to the bathhouse. Akira does so, thanking Sojiro and going to place his dishes into the sink before being waved off. “You don’t want to be late,” he points out. Akira nods and leaves for the bathhouse. After a quick soak, he heads off to school to be met by Ryuji on the way.

Ryuji mentions about Kamoshida being the king of the castle, to which Akira makes an inquiring noise as the Metanav activates itself. “Syujin I mean,” Ryuji explains.

As the two of them approach the school, the nav throws them into the Metaverse, giving Ryuji a headache and making Akira feel nauseated.

They are stopped by guards at the entrance and King Kamoshida shows up, Ryuji awakens in a fit of anger after seeing Akira being stepped on, blasting the guards away before staring at Kamoshida who runs away. “Thanks Ryuji, you look good,” Akira compliments. “Let’s get out of here.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice! But how?”

“We can find a way, come on!” They race out of the school and catch their breath, slightly winded. Akira notices his phone’s acting odd, he pokes his phone a few times then hears a mechanical voice say _You’ve returned to the real world, welcome back_.

“Man, what just happened?” Before Akira can answer, two policemen approach the two. “Playing truant, are we?”

Akira turns to them, bowing. “Sumimasen keikan,” Before grabbing Ryuji’s hand and dragging him off to school.

After the day finishes, Ryuji meets with Akira at the school gate. “That was wild, want to go to the castle tomorrow?” Ryuji asks before continuing on. “I can bring a model gun if it’ll help you.”

“Sure,” Akira responds.

“Yeah! Tomorrow after school?”

“Ok, where should we meet?”

Ryuji thinks for a minute. “How about the school roof? No one really goes there anymore.”

“Sounds good.” Akira parts ways with Ryuji after they swap their chat IDs, both going back to their own homes.

Sojiro is there waiting when Akira gets back. “The school called me today, they said you were late.”

“I’m sorry about that Sakura-san, the trains ran a bit off schedule. Probably due to the various incidents in the news lately.”

Sojiro ponders that before nodding. “Just don’t let it happen again, you’re on probation.”

“I know, thank you,” Akira looks down at his feet before Sojiro tugs at his hand, placing a key in it. He looks up at Sojiro curiously. “That’s a spare key to this place, I can’t wait for you to get back home every day.” Akira nods, slipping it into his bag and making a note to get a keychain for it.

Akira considers things before picking up the key and placing it in his pocket, his parents gave him a little money for the train ride but he didn’t have the heart to use it. It’ll come in handy now. He looks around the maze of streets and finds a pawn shop not far from Leblanc, the owner is muttering about an old TV set that just came in. Akira shrugs, but decides to keep it in mind for later before looking for a keychain. He finds an old Gundam one and buys it, it may not be something he’s in to but a keychain is a keychain.

That done, he puts the key to Leblanc on the chain and slips it into his pocket after attaching the clasp to his jeans. Akira heads back to his residence for the year to sleep, thankful that the teachers didn’t give as much homework today and the little he has only takes him 30 minutes.


	3. Waking Will

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the song for this chapter, [Bel Canto - Waking Will](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzpwWf5m1JI).
> 
> Thanks goes to Furious_Pines for RPing a part of this chapter with me.

**4/13**

It’s starting to become a routine in the brief time he’s been in Tokyo, wake up, go downstairs, get breakfast with coffee before heading to school and pet the cat that’s been hanging around Leblanc since yesterday (the furball would not allow Akira to leave until he’s had attention). After school is where the routine deviates.

Ryuji and Akira meet at the school gate, Shiho and Anne are walking a short ways behind them when all four are pulled into the Metaverse. Unaware of their tagalongs, Ryuji hands Akira the model gun he had stored in his bag before they head in.

Anne and Shiho are wandering around the Palace after being pulled in. 

“Where are we?”

“I don’t know, the sign said it was our school, but…”

They are trying to fulfill their curiosity, when they find a treasure chest with some dirty laundry inside.

“Ew, should we really take this?” Anne looks disgusted.

As they turn a corner, they get spotted by the guards. 

”The Princess and the slut are here, what should we do?” The first looks at his companion.

“Take them to King Kamoshida,” the second guard replies as he grabs Anne.

The two of them get dragged, struggling, as they are taken to where Shadow Kamoshida is waiting.

Shiho gets pinned by the guards' spears as Anne gets thrown to the ground. She trembles in abject fear warring with horror, wondering what is going to happen to them, as she hears a voice that sounds like her own yet not.

**_So, you’re ready to come out of your cave… Let’s make a contract, you and I._ **

**_Thou art I, and I am thou._ **

**_Show those who are beneath us what true Light is!_ **

With a wave of power, Shiho awakens to Amaterasu, her phantom garb is a golden tunic that falls to her knees, a mask that looks like the sun split in half, and white gloves.

“Amaterasu, show them the light!”

Amaterasu casts Hamaon on the shadows causing them to burst into black goop as Kamoshida escapes. Anne catches Shiho as her outfit disperses and drags her away, thankfully they don’t meet any enemies.

They find Skull and Akira by the Palace entrance with Akira carrying a map that he mentions he pointed out to Skull.

“How did you get here?!?” Skull exclaims.

“Let’s just go, Shiho is exhausted.” Indeed, Shiho is slumped tiredly against Anne’s side. “I can tell you after I get Shiho home.”

Skull nods and presses the exit to the app, returning them to the real world. 

They soon part ways to go back to their own homes after exchanging chat IDs.

Akira feels queasy after leaving the Palace, but he can’t say why. He figures he just needs some food or something.

He returns to Leblanc and Prince jumps into his bag, having smelled the Metaverse on him. 

“Mew!”

He just sighs after attempting to remove the cat multiple times only for it to jump back in.

“Fine, you can stay there, just be quiet.”

“Meow!”

Akira enters the cafe and heads upstairs to his room, as he sets the bag down on the table, the cat jumps out.

“Mew, merow, mrr…” (Man, this place sure is dusty…)

He leaves Prince to explore the place while he heads down to the restroom, hopefully, to find something to calm his rolling stomach. He doesn’t, and hopes dinner will help ease the nausea.

Dinner, in fact, makes his nausea worse, and Akira spends the next few minutes over the toilet dry heaving before heading upstairs to bed, suddenly exhausted.

The next day he spends some time getting to know the three of them, Shiho in particular likes books, sports, and Gatcha games. After dinner, Akira gets a text from Anne asking to visit him.

**KA: Sure, I’m at Cafe Leblanc, Yongen-Jaya.  
TA: Got it, see you soon!**

Anne arrives five minutes later and greets Akira before without so much as a by-your-leave, heads up the stairs to see his room.

Anne sees Akira's 'bed' “You poor thing! This can't be allowed!”

Akira heads upstairs after hearing her cry out, worried.

She immediately starts texting Shiho. **Akira's 'bed' is just a mattress on some crates! I have to fix this...**

**Anne sends a picture. See? That's not a bed!**

Anne drags a shocked Akira shopping. "Pick whichever frame you want, I'm paying."

"But-" Akira goes silent at Anne's stare. _Scary_ He thinks before picking out the cheapest one, which happens to be a toddler-sized frame and also a racecar.

Anne just looks at Akira with a raised eyebrow.

"You did say whichever," Akira points out, innocently.

"One that will fit your height, _that _does not."__

__He finds a slightly less cheap one, by like, two hundred Yen, and it's just a child-sized frame racecar_ _

__"Akira, you need an adult frame," Anne looks exasperated._ _

__He stares her dead in the eyes and picks this one...__

[](https://imgur.com/mgaSwcW)

_Anne looks at Akira before sighing and making the purchase, requesting it be delivered to Leblanc_  


__He gently wheezes, not expecting her to actually buy it, but doesn't say anything to keep up his pride and reputation as the cryptid of their group._ _

__Sojiro just looks done when the frame gets delivered and set up in the attic._ _

__Akira softly wheezes when he sees Sojiro's face, a deep-seated look of disapproval in his eyes._ _

__"Please trust me when I say I really didn't expect her to buy it."_ _

__"You should've at least tried to stop her."_ _

__"But I-"_ _

__"Yeah yeah, I get it, your stupid reputation. Christ kid, what am I gonna do with you?"_ _

__“You know you love me…”_ _

__“Wash the dishes, you brat.”_ _

__Akira lies on his new sandwich bed later that evening but does not get any rest that night. He is too busy laughing till he cries, while softly chanting about how he can't breathe._ _


End file.
